The Church Bells of Boston

I took the plane from Buffalo to Boston today to attend the Tobii Eye Tracking Conference on Human Behaviour. The flight and public transit to the hotel was fast and painless. Once I’d unpacked, I went in search of food. I hoped to find somewhere with WiFi, but in the end I settled for a WiFi-less old school pub by the park.

The pub made me feel like I’d gone back in time- it was if nothing had changed since the turn of the century (except the staff, clientelle, and the menu that is) I had a burger, sweet potato fries, some sort of cross between a pickle and a cucumber, and a pint of beer. They were out of Whaletail (I asked for a microbrew) so I settled for a pint of Samuel Adams, who’s brewery tour we’re going on Wednesday (they use eye tracking in rating the sucess of their branding and advertisements)

After dinner, I wandered around to look for a cafe and to get to know my new neighbourhood better. It’s kinda weird around here- it’s like a mutation of New York and Quebec City, but with lots of hills. There’s something so odd yet intriguing about this part of the city…

My hotel was built in 1923 and still has much of its old detailing- even the doorknobs are ornate! It’s right by an old church that was founded in 1630, and across from Old City Hall. Within my block, there are two old graveyards, stuck between all these corporate buildings. The juxtoposition of old and new is amazing.

Well, the clock just struck 10pm! The church bells are clanging outside. I will try and sleep now. I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow!